The invention relates to a device for preventing theft of an appliance to be attached to a support surface, while still allowing access to controls for the appliance, and while allowing removal of the appliance by an authorized person. The invention is particularly adapted for theft prevention of citizen band radios and the like from vehicles. At the present, there is a significant problem with respect to theft of citizen band radios. Conventional mounts for the radios may be readily disconnected by a thief, either by removing the whole mount from the supporting surface, or by breaking the locking mechanism for the mount. While in some cases theft can be prevented by rigidly affixing the radio or the like to the body of the vehicle, in such a situation the radio cannot be removed for service and repair. Also, while such a solution may be acceptable for new vehicles, it is difficult to retrofit vehicles with permanent attachment of the radio or the like to the vehicle.
According to the present invention, a theft-preventing container is provided that greatly minimizes the possibility of someone defeating the attachment of the container to the support or defeating the locking mechanism, yet the container according to the invention provides ready access to the controls of the appliance mounted therein, and one wall of the container is movable to allow withdrawal of the appliance from within the container. The container may be made out of hardened metal or the like so that the appliance may be removed only if the support or the container is destroyed by a very sophisticated destruction device (i.e. in an acetylene torch), in which case there is also a large potential for the destruction of the appliance so as to make the appliance useless to the thief. It is assumed that a thief having sufficient sophistication to be able to destroy the container or the support would also realize that such destruction would result in the destruction of the appliance, and therefore it would not be worthwhile to attempt to steal the appliance.
The theft-preventing container according to the invention comprises a metal box for receipt of the appliance therein, the box having a plurality of walls at least one of which having an access opening formed therein allowing access to the controls of an appliance within the box, and one of the box walls being movable to allow removal of an appliance within the box from the box. Means are provided for latching the movable box wall to the rest of the box to prevent unauthorized movement of the movable box wall, the latching means comprising a first plurality of space tubular members having aligned bores and extending from the movable wall, a second plurality of spaced tubular members having aligned bores and extending from a wall of the box distinct from the movable wall, the second plurality of tubular members being spaced apart in such a manner so that they receive the first plurality of spaced tubular members therebetween with bores of the first and second plurality of members aligned, a removable hardened metal latching bolt having cross-sectional dimensions generally corresponding in shape to the shape of the bores in the first and second plurality of spaced tubular members, the hardened metal latch bolt holding the first and second plurality of bores in alignment, and a locking means for holding the latching bolt in place received by the first and second plurality of tubular members to prevent relevant movement therebetween, said locking means including a key-release means. Additionally, means are provided for attaching the box to a stationary support, which support has a larger area than the box, so that the box may not be removed from the support from a location exterior of the box except by destruction of the box or the support. The invention is particularly adapted for the mounting of a citizens band radio within a motor vehicle, although many other applications are also contemplated including mounting of mobile phones, mounting of pay phones in telephone booths, mounting equipment in unlocked areas of offices, etc.
Preferably, according to the present invention, the locking means comprises a locking bolt cooperable with an opening formed in the latching bolt, and spring means for biasing the locking bolt into engagement with the walls of the opening of the latching bolt. The key release means preferably comprises key operated means for moving the locking bolt against the bias of the spring means, such as an eccentric cam. The movable wall of the box can include a locking bolt receiving cavity for receiving the bolt when it extends completely through the opening and the latching bolt. Structure can also be provided for automatically locking the latching bolt in place when it is inserted properly into the bores within the tubular members. Such structure may comprise automatically releasable holding means for holding the locking bolt against the spring bias thereof in the first position, and for automatically releasing the locking bolt, under the influence of the bias spring thereof, in a second position in response to movement of the latching bolt so that it is completely received within the tubular members. Such automatically releasable holding means may comprise a lever for holding the locking bolt, a reciprocal cam for pivoting the lever out of holding relationship with the locking bolt, a cam portion formed on the latching bolt for reciprocally moving the cam rod, and spring means for biasing the lever into its first, holding position.
Additionally, since it is desirable to move the hardened latch bolt into receipt by the tubular member bores so that no portion thereof extends outwardly from the tubular members, ejector means desirably are provided for at least partially ejecting the latching bolt from receipt by the tubular members after unlocking of the key operated means. Such ejector means may comprise an ejector bolt and spring means for biasing the bolt to effect partial ejection of the latching bolt, and ejector bolt holding means, which ejector bolt holding means comprises a cam rod reciprocal by the ejector bolt, spring means for biasing the cam rod into engagement with a latching head portion of the ejector bolt, and manually operable means for moving the cam rod against the bias of the spring biasing means.
In many circumstances it will be feasible and desirable to mount the box to the support by passing conventional fastening means (i.e., rivets, screws, bolts) into the support from an interior portion of the box so that access to the fastening means from the exterior of the box is not possible. In such an event, the fastening means are essentially non-removable from the exterior of the box. In circumstances where such a mounting is not possible or desirable, however, the attaching means may still be made exteriorly non-removable according to the present invention. Exterior flange portions of the box which have threaded openings therein may be attached to the stationary support by prison screws or the like. During installation, the heads for such screws break off thereby leaving no tool engaging portion of the screws available to a would be thief, so that the box may not be removed from the support except by a destruction of the box or the support.
It is the primary purpose of the present invention to provide a container for an appliance that greatly minimizes the chances of the appliance being stolen, the container particularly adapted for preventing theft of citizen band radios for motor vehicles. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.